Chapter 148 (Patreon)

Chapter 148

Lahn Lucio sputtered and coughed, clutching his bruised forehead where his wavy chestnut locks were plastered across his face.  He had slipped trying to get out of the bathtub again and had tipped the porcelain tub over while simultaneously landing face first with water rushing over him onto the tiled floor.

Having been born with deformity caused him many problems growing up and among the least of them was his regular slips in the bathroom.  His left leg was slightly short, looking rather withered with scrunched up green and gray tissues, while his left arm wasn’t as afflicted but was still abnormally weak and shriveled.  His back curved with extreme scoliosis and he had the misfortune of being very, very weak on his left side with overall poor balance.  Thankfully his mother was a kind woman and often helped him dress in the morning or eat when he couldn’t hold his utensils properly.

“LAHN!?” his mother called from the next room over.  She was always watching out for him even when she knew he hated to be babied at the age of 20.  “LAHN ARE YOU OK!?  DID YOU FALL AGAIN!?”

“I’M FINE MOTHER!” Lahn in frustration, though he couldn’t help but smile that his mother still cared for him so much.  She was such a good and kind person.

The same couldn’t be said for his siblings and father.

His father was a war hero and esteemed inquisitor for the crown while his two siblings were rising stars at the imperial academy.  The house name of Lucio was well known throughout Dawn and the surrounding remnants of their kingdom as one of the most esteemed households in court.  His siblings were worshiped as future leaders in the army, already having achieved great feats in the war against Tereen,while he was akin to a ghost.  A ghost to them all, a ghost to be ignored, all looking down on him save for his mother.  But as long as he had her… that was all he could ask for.

“HURRY!  LORD AND LADY BORTROST HAVE BROUGHT THEIR DAUGHTER TO MEET YOU!”  His mother sounded excited and spurred him on as he struggled to merely get up off the floor.  A minute passed before she came into the bathroom, and soon she saw her struggling son.  She wore a pretty dark green dress, had hear brunette hair pulled up into a ponytail hanging out of a bun, and wore a large pendant across her chest.  Putting a hand over her mouth and trying not to damage his pride upon seeing him like this, she helped him to his feet and let him regain his balance without too much help.

“This is a bad idea mother…” Lahn stated solemnly, avoiding eye contact and allowing her to dry him off.  “Perhaps I should just stay in my room while they’re here.”

“Nonsense!” Lady Shovi Lucio insisted.  Her radiant smile always lifted Lahn’s spirits and she helped the young man into a white shirt before putting on his undergarments and pants.  “Their daughter is supposed to be very cute, and her parents wish her to marry into a good household!  Be sure to tell them about how you’re doing in classes at the academy!  I’m sure they’ll be impressed.”

Lahn’s nervous grin showed briefly and he cleared his throat as he felt his hands get sweaty.  “Don’t make me out to be something I’m not mom.  The only thing I can do at the academy is magic-”

“And there are PLENTY of men and women who make a good living doing just that!” exclaimed his mother as she brushed up his bruised forehead and kissed it. “Some people have very low affinities or no affinities at all, making them unable to cast anything!  Be grateful for what you have, there are always those worse off and you’re a catch for any woman!”

Lahn rolled his eyes.

“Yeah.  Maybe one day, if I study magic hard enough, I’ll even figure out how to stop my body from…”  Lahn’s words trailed off as his eyes fell to his shriveled limbs.  His mother frowned and her lips quivered just briefly before she kissed him again and held his handsome face in her hands.

“You are my son.” she said as she wiped away a tear and sniffled.  “Never forget that I will always love you.  I will always be there to support you when you need it and even if I have to spend the entire family fortune doing it I will find a way to fix this.”

“We’ve already tried many times.  The cure isn’t there.”  Lahn smiled happily at his mother and put his good right hand around her shoulder to hug her warmly.  “I love you too mom.  But there’s no need to spend any more money on healers, the best have already been hired and failed.  If there is a fix for my… disfigurement, it will have to be through new magic not yet discovered.  That’s why I went to the academy in the first place right!?  It’s not like they’d ever let me into the military like this.  And I only got into the imperial academy because of our family name.”

“You wouldn’t like it in the military anyways.  Your brother and sister are crazy for following in their father’s footsteps, he’s miserable all the time and those Tereen monsters are so bloodthirsty!  Not to mention the new monsters around here since the integration!” insisted his mother as she finished buttoning up his vest.  Going over to a mirror trimmed in gold she reached behind it and pulled out men’s perfume that she sprayed all over her son causing him to cough.  She laughed and kissed him on the forehead again just as a uniformed maid rushed in and bowed.

“The Lord and Lady Bortrost have just arrived with their daughter!  Their carriage is pulling up now!”

“Shit!” Lady Shovi Lucio exclaimed as she finished dressing her crippled son.  She motioned for the maid and was quickly brought a wheelchair from his bedroom.  The plain-looking, freckled maid and his ever-sweet mother helped him into the chair.  They then wheeled him out as fast as they could while keeping within a safe speed through the large, well-lit halls decorated with paintings of Lahn’s father’s triumphs.

Then they arrived at the front entrance of their estate just as the servants finished escorting the guests to the marble arch of the front door.

“SHOVI!” exclaimed Lady Lucio’s childhood friend as Lady Niltini Bortrost rushed over to greet her.  The two well dressed brunette women looked quite similar as they embraced and kissed each other’s cheeks while exchanging a myriad of compliments.

“It has been too long, Niltini!  And how is your handsome husband doing this fine day!?”

Lord Armando Bortrost was a well built and tall man with dark hair wearing a victorian-style suit, he smiled widely at the compliment and bowed to kiss her hand in the shadow of the Lucio manor.  “Always a pleasure, Shovi.  Who is this fine young man we’ve got here?”

Armando winked at his wife and motioned towards Lahn, who was directly in the line of fire for a blinding ray of sunlight to blind him - rapidly causing him to blink.

“Lahn!  It’s been almost a year hasn’t it!?” stated Niltini with clasped hands in front of her - bending down to be at eye level with her best friend’s boy.  “You’re looking good!  I heard you got accepted into the Imperial Academy?  Is that true?  We can use all the good men we can get in these trying times!”

Lahn’s face blushed bright red and he sheepishly looked down to hide his eyes under his wavy brunette locks.  “My mother talks too much.”

“Nonsense!  I’ve heard you’re doing very well in your magic classes!” Laughed Lord Armando Bortrost as he patted Lahn’s shoulder.  The lord motioned for the maid to bring Lahn forward.  “Lahn we’ve brought someone we’d like you to meet!  This is our daughter Marsia!”

Lord Armando Bortorst motioned to the carriage they’d come out of that’d parked on the cobblestone path nearby, and the door to the carriage swung open to reveal a young woman that Lahn had seen before in passing.

Marsia, a woman of 19 years of age, was in her prime years to get married to another of the court.  She wasn’t spectacular to look at for most people, but she certainly wasn’t ugly; having brown hair and large dimples just like her parents while wearing a bright blue dress.  She came forward from her hiding place behind Armando and reluctantly curtsied.

“Hello Lahn.  I’ve heard many things about you.”

Lahn bit his lip and tried not to choke in his wheelchair.  This was actually the first time he had ever spoken to a girl his own age since his childhood years and he squirmed under the pressure.   “H-Hi Marsia.  You look amazing.”

His mother Shovi rolled her eyes as the Bortost parents giggled to one another.

“Come inside!  Come inside.  We’ll have the servants fetch some tea and pastries while we eat out on the back porch!” exclaimed Lahn’s mother, Shovi, as she ushered everyone into the greeting hall.  “I’m not sure if you remember but we have a very nice view of the lake from here!”

The back porch was much larger than what most people would consider a ‘porch.’  It was many times the width of a small house and had many different well carved tables in a mix and match variety of high class decor.  Servants had already set up refreshments in anticipation of the House Bortrost’s arrival, and they were quick to stand at attention as they all sat down at one of the larger tables overlooking their backyard gardens.

“So tell me about how your investments have gone since the merging of worlds!  Are you bringing back a good haul with mining copper in the outlands?  I’ve heard we’re in dire need for new weapons material.” Lady Shovi Lucio was quick to delve into her good friend’s happenings.

Lord Armando Bortrost rolled his eyes and sighed with unspoken misfortune as he picked up a pastry and shoved it into his mouth, pouting.  “Not good.  The mining company we sponsored were all butchered by Tereen raiders a few days ago.  Those damned pointies are completely ruining us - and we’re not the only ones.”

Lady Niltini Bortorst deeply frowned, flattened her dress, and sipped her tea.

But Shovi would not be dissuaded or dismayed.  Their country had already undergone quite a few challenges and hurdles, and if one didn’t actively pursue happiness - it would quickly escape you after so many had senselessly been lost to the tutorials, local wildlife, or the elves.

“Oh come now, give me the details!  I must know what my friends have been up to.  And at the very least provide me with some good gossip on this fine summer day!”  Shovi remarked casually as she too picked up her tea in a fine porcelain cup, very lady-like, and winked to her compatriots across the table.

“Gossip?” asked Niltini slyly, adjusting her blouse and placing the cup back down.  “That I can provide.  I will spare you the boring details of our failed trading efforts and focus on the things that matter… did you hear about how two ladies of the court were found involved in the illegal slave trades?”

“WHAT?!  What are their names!?  Surely they’re in prison now.  A shame.  Do we know them!?”

“Well yes… we actually do!  I’ll tell you, and you won’t believe who it was…”

The banter between the two women overtook the stage, and soon Lord Armando Bortost was losing himself to sleep as he grew bored of the silly things his wife and her best friend gossiped about.  Meanwhile, Lahn was doing his best to think of things to say to their daughter Marsia.

The young woman next to him hadn’t glanced at him even once since sitting at the finely made table.  Perhaps she was bored… his mother had always told him that he was fun to talk to though.  Maybe he could make her laugh?  Maybe then she’d talk to him!

“M-Marsia.  Do you like jokes?” Lahn asked hesitantly in a whisper that she barely heard.

“What was that?” Marsia asked, barely turning her head to glance at him.  “I wasn’t sure what it was you just said.”

Lahn felt his hands getting sweaty and tried to sit up straighter, but the extreme form of  scoliosis was working against him.  He tried to adjust his positioning in the wheelchair so that he could look at her straight on but with his weak left side he was only able to kind of flop to one side before the maid had to adjust his frail body for him.  Marsia didn’t say a word as the plain, middle aged maid pulled him up by his armpits as he blushed furiously before getting into a corrected position on the patio again.

“Sorry…” muttered Lahn, flushing thoroughly with a bright red tint to his cheeks.  “I said, do you like jokes?”

Marsia shrugged unenthusiastically, barely giving him a sideways half-glance that was filled with impatience.  “As much as any other person I suppose.”

“Well would you like to hear one?” asked Lahn with a small, truly innocent smile.  He was just happy to have someone his own age to talk to, other than his pompous siblings.

“No.  I’d rather not, I have a rather harsh headache at the moment.”

Lahn’s small smile quickly faded, and he was left twiddling his thumbs.  “I see.  Uhm... Are you enrolling in the Academy too?”

A bird flew overhead, and as it passed them by it dropped a small load of shit that landed on Lahn’s left hand.  Startled by the bird and filled with a mixture of disgust and embarrassment, he cursed his luck and used a napkin to wipe away the bird dung as Marsia eyed him with raised eyebrows.

“Yes… I’m actually a class ahead of you and have already been accepted…”

“Really?!” Lahn replied excitedly as he threw the napkin in a side pouch attached to the wheelchair he sat in.  “Wow!  Maybe you could help me with some of the classes I’m in now!  Do you think-”

Marsia cleared her throat loudly and stood up as her eyes drifted to where their parents were talking enthusiastically.  She then turned back to Lahn.  “Do you mind showing me to the lady’s room?”

Lahn eagerly nodded and motioned for the maid to wheel him out and without a word they began to backtrack into the mansion.  Going through a set of large wooden doors and entering a large living room, they turned down one of the hallways leading towards the kitchen.  He looked back excitedly and watched as Marsia walked by his side and looked straight ahead.

“That’s the door!” Lahn exclaimed, smiling again as they came to the spot where one of the bath rooms was located.  He looked her up and down just briefly enough so that she wouldn’t notice, appreciating how pretty she was.  “May I wait here for you to finish?”

The inside of the mansion was rather quiet.  Marsia took a long look at one of the portraits of Lahn’s handsome father before replying.  As she spoke, an air of disgust overcame her.

“No.  You may not.”

The quick and blunt retort shocked him, and his face betrayed his emotions moments later while she continued to speak.

“Let me be clear… Lahn.  I am not interested.”  Marsia’s face was cold and stern.  “I certainly think you are a nice boy.  But I am the daughter of an esteemed noble family.  My parents may be approving of this potential arrangement because of their friendship with your family, and your family does have a good name… but I will now allow myself to marry a cripple.”

*THUD*

Lahn’s heart almost stopped in his chest, and he looked like he’d just been struck across the face.

Marsia resumed her normal posture and placed a hand on the door handle.  “Maybe your family status will be enough to land you a peasant girl.  Maybe one of your maids.  But you need to leave me alone - and that is the end of it.  Good day, sir.”

The door to the bathroom shut quietly behind her as Marsia gracefully parted ways with him.  Lahn just sat there, stunned and ashamed, as he looked his crippled body over in dismay.  He wanted to cry.

“Entitled bitch.” the maid who was wheeling him around said under her breath.  She looked down in pity at the young man and frowned.  “Should we go back outside young sir?”

It took a while for him to get the words out, but he shook his head with a quivering voice.  “No… just take me to my room.  Tell my mother I felt ill.  And please, do not speak of this.  It would only cause my mother unnecessary grief.”

The maid reluctantly nodded, and with a sigh she began to wheel him away.  The excitement Lahn had felt when he had first laid eyes on Marsia was long gone, and all that was left was a pit in his stomach made of self pity and depression.  Off to sleep he went.

***

Things were gearing up.  Riven was preparing to leave even though he'd just got back, he needed to get out and about to find the other Chalgathi artifacts before he was killed - and he was on a shorter timeline than the others.  Meanwhile Allie had a war to continue, so they'd set up a short breakfast to say goodbye before parting again.  It was bittersweet, drawn out, and the two siblings basked in each others' presence while knowing that it'd likely be a while before seeing one another again.  They'd stayed up late talking about it after everyone else had gone to bed, but they each had their own path to take - if only temporary.  Neither of them was very worried though, not after buying a certain pair of items from the Elysium altar last night in case of emergencies with an absolutely massive amount of money from their treasury lost.

But at least they'd be around if one needed the other.

However, things had taken an abrupt right turn when one of the Dawn diplomats posed a question concerning a trip to Dawn's capital.  Apparently the king had given him a letter addressed to the Thane Necropolis leadership, and the old man had forgotten entirely about it last night due to his nervous breakdown at being in the presence of so many vampires and unholy entities at one time:

Theodore Munchamp patted down his robes and pulled out the letter he’d mentioned.  It had the king’s red seal, the symbol of the sun, embroidered with gold lining sealing the parchment shut.  Cutting it with a small knife, the older orange-haired mage cleared his throat and handed it to Allie as Riven watched from the side.

Allie took it, scanned it up and down, then raised an eyebrow and handed the letter to Riven.

The room remained silent after that, with Dawn’s other diplomat staring hopefully at the two vampires from across the table as Athela snarfed down scrambled eggs nearby.

“He wants one of us to attend the royal academy?” Riven said skeptically, turning the letter over to make sure he hadn’t missed anything before pushing it into one of Allie’s pockets.  “I’m out.  I have to find Chalgathi’s other artifacts before I’m eaten by this goddamned suit.  As for you…”

Riven eyed his sister suspiciously, where a thinly veiled grin was creeping across her face.  “I don’t know about this.  If you wanted to learn, you still haven’t visited the Blood Moon Requiem’s trading commune since I was accidentally banished to the other side of Panu.”

“I have nothing to learn from them.” Allie stated sourly.  “Those incompetent relatives of ours have only brought us misfortune.  First they almost got us killed, then they were less than capable when you were forcibly zapped away.  I have lost faith in them.”

“I see.  But don’t you have a city to run?”

Allie nodded, and gestured out the window towards the portal in the distance.  “More than just one now.  Including the three cities you brought into the fold and the elvish town we conquered, that makes five.  But I think you’re failing to see the big picture here.”

Allie adjusted her position in her chair to fully face her older brother as he gave her what she knew to be a judgemental frown despite the mask he wore.  She could tell just by his body language.  “I’m already moving our armies further into Dawn’s territories for a backline defense in case the dungeon Tereen is allied to attempts to strike out at Dawn’s capital city - Mandon.  I was going to set up a base camp there anyways with General Bruner, Gurth’Rok, Vin and Nin, so why not?  It’ll give me some insight into how Dawn is run, what their people are like, allows me to make political connections with their nobility and gives me some much needed off time.  Mara will be sure to run things in my stead through the communication stones we have linked to one another.  Right Mara?”

The ghoul necromancer nodded in agreement.  “I will not fail you mistress.  I have become very adept at running Brightsville in your absence while you wage war on the tree lovers.  I’ve improved trade relations with Negrada and the Blood Moon Requiem, culled the remaining forces that’d opposed you in the prison and gang wars to the north, and have integrated the remaining Brightsville humans without much hassle.  I also have already drawn up plans for civilians to freely travel between Chicago and Brightsville through the portal with checkpoint setups and registration cards for safety measures - with many of the officers from General Bruner’s police force coming over soon to get the layout for the new reality of our twin cities.  I do believe I’ve earned at least some measure of competency.”

Riven snorted at the comment of ‘tree lovers,’ especially when Genua shot the ghoul a glare while she was picking up after breakfast.  “Hmmm.  I see.  Well, I don’t see any reason why Dawn would betray us… So it shouldn’t put you in danger while I’m out hunting Chalgathi’s chosen.  Just be careful, ok?  I don’t want to have to come in and wipe out a neighboring city because you get into trouble - and I won’t be able to communicate with you when I get out of range.  Satellite phones or cell phones from Chicago still aren’t up, so I’ll be checking the forums of Brightsville regularly if you have anything important to impart.”

“I assure you!” Theodore exclaimed nervously, holding up both hands in wide-eyed alarm.  “We would never DREAM of attacking your sister!  The king merely thought that, since you two were of courting age, perhaps you’d find someone within our kingdom that may suit your fancy…”

Theodore’s voice trailed off uncertainly into the distance as both vampires slowly turned to stare, and Marin - the other, female diplomat from Dawn, facepalmed hard.

“Well.” Riven stated flatly.  “I guess… Just try not to kill anyone while you’re over there?”

“It’ll only be a temporary thing while we finish the war.” Allie stated with an amused nod.  “I’m rather curious about what our neighboring allies are like, so this little trip should be rather fun.”